In times of encroaching
Authoritarianism,
One of the only safeguards
We have to protect democracy
Is the fourth estate,
Unless it too is compromised
By corporate interests or
Takes the form of
Partisan propaganda masquerading
As news in order to perpetuate
A one-sided brutal agenda
Portending calamity.
He’s the kind of person
Who has no problem
Lying to get what he wants,
Creating simple-minded
Diversions that
Hide the truth about
His wretched actions,
A closed, damaged creature
Lashing out at specters,
Enemies around every corner,
Oppression his only tool,
Get them before they get you.
The black gunk
Oozes into every recess,
Especially the halls of power,
Where it buys votes in spite of
The great harm it inflicts,
People gasping for air,
Wilderness besmirched,
Climate changed,
Alternatives strangled,
A few enriching themselves
At the expense of
Everything else.
These are people of
Great self-described
Sobriety and moral character,
Virtue and uprightness,
Ready at any moment
To impose their insecurities
On others and limit
The rights of anyone
They deem to be lesser,
Today it’s women,
Just so they can
Feel better about themselves
For a moment.
Money and power are
More important than
Human lives to this clan.
Anything they can do
To fleece and hurt others
Makes them feel better.
Don’t ask for help,
They don’t know how to give it,
Only how to punish.
It’s always the same:
Whenever they’re in power
There is an immediate
Rush to erode protections
For workers, the environment,
The less fortunate,
A total lack of empathy and
Compassion for anything other
Than the very few at the top,
An infected view of the world,
Fear, scarcity, cruelty.
He bristles at
The mere mention of
Someone protesting
For equal rights.
When you haven’t
Had to endure
Prejudice and inequality,
You tend to see the world
Very differently from
Someone who has had
To live it every day.
It’s shocking enough
That the legislation
Is as heartless and
Awful as it is,
Betraying a complete
Lack of compassion or
Even the most basic
Kindness toward others,
But even more terrifying
Is that this many of them
Support it and would
Gleefully do much worse.
The death of empathy,
Replaced with something
Dark, twisted, sinister.
This is how it happens:
People who are hurting
Are manipulated
To feel irrational fear
By entities that have
Something to gain from
Keeping them in pain;
Scapegoats are created
To harness all the negative
Energy. A constant, urgent,
Martial drumbeat sounds above
An underlying current of
Existential danger.
On the other side,
Numbed by corporate dollars,
Those who could provide clarity,
Sanity, reason, true comfort,
Forget what courage is,
Ignoring whom they represent,
Neglecting to provide a
Counterbalance.
With no visible alternative,
A large segment of the populace
Gravitates to those who
Promise safety, purity, strength,
A return to order.
